Russia releases detained US citizen Marc Fogel

MOSCOW - US citizen Marc Fogel, who was convicted in Russia for drug smuggling and possession, has been released to the United States, local media reported on Wednesday.

"The information regarding his release is accurate. However, we do not know the route he is being transported on," Fogel's lawyer, Dmitry Ovsyannikov, told RIA Novosti, adding that he could not provide further details.

Earlier, US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz said that Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, visited Russia to negotiate Fogel's return. Witkoff accompanied Fogel on a flight back to the United States.

CNN previously reported that Fogel, 61, had worked for nearly a decade as a history teacher at the Anglo-American School in Moscow.

Fogel and his wife were detained at Sheremetyevo International Airport in August 2021 upon arrival from New York, with marijuana and hashish oil found in their luggage. During the search, investigators found out that his wife, who was sent home, was able to get rid of evidence in the apartment before the security forces arrived.

A Russian court convicted Fogel of large-scale drug smuggling and possession. In 2022, the Khimki City Court in Moscow sentenced him to 14 years in a high-security penal colony.